Meaning of Cuek In Bahasa Indonesia

Halo, semuanya, ketemu lagi dengan saya, Iman Prabawa. This time, we are going to be talking about the meaning of the word [cuek] in Indonesian. As always, we are also going to be watching examples from movies, YouTube videos, and also comics, and others where the word [cuek] is used by Indonesians.

If you have any questions regarding the Indonesian language, you can ask me directly. You can see how to do that on my About Me page. 

If you are a beginner in the Indonesian language, you can learn step by step with My Lesson Here.

So, let's talk about it.

Cuek In Bahasa Indonesia

If you describe a person as [cuek], it means that they don't care about what other people say about them and that they don't seem to care about their surroundings.

Example sentences:

1. Jangan suka cuek bebek gitu dong jadi orang. Kenalan gih sama sekitar kamu. (Don't be such a nonchalant person. You need to get along with the people from your surroundings.)

2. Emang enak dicuekin sama dia! (Wasn't it feel good being ignored by her, was it? )

3. Kemarin gue ketemu dia, tapi dia nyuekin gue seharian. Gue salah apa ya? (I met her yesterday, but she was ignoring me all day. What have I done wrong to her?)

The word [cuek] has a more negative connotation compared to its positive connotations.

How to Pronounce Cuek

Here is how you pronounce [cuek] in Bahasa Indonesia.


[Cuek] is sometimes collocated with the word [bebek]. [Bebek] literally means [duck], but the word [bebek] as in its meaning doesn't add new meaning. It is just it rhymed well with the word [bebek].

And here is how you pronounce [cuek bebek] in Indonesian.


As you can see, the last syllable of [ek] from the word [bebek] rhymed well with the last syllable from the word [cuek]. So, that's why sometimes people join the word together.

The meaning is the same. Bebek in [cuek bebek] doesn't add any additional meaning.

Example of Cuek In Use

The first example we are about to watch is taken from a TV Serial, Tetangga Masa Gitu (2014). Let's watch the clip below.

The transcript from the conversation in that scene with English translation is as follows.

Neigbors: Selamat pagi, mas Adi. (Good morning, Adi.) 

Adi: Hmm

Angel: Heh! Kamu kenapa sih ngga bisa ramah dikit? Aku cape kalau lagi arisan ibu-ibu diomongin terus kamunya. Kenapa sih suaminya cuek banget? Ngga pernah mau ngumpul ama tetangga-tetangga. Gitu. (Heh! Why couldn't you be nice a little? I'm tired of being asked by mothers when we gathered. They said to me, "Why is your husband being so nonchalant? He never wants to hang out with neighbors". That’s what they said to me.

Adi: Aku ramah kok, kan tadi aku jawab. Aku bilang, "Hmm". Gitu. (I was being nice, though. I answered their greeting with “hmm”. That’s how I answered them.) 

Angel: Heh, tau ah! (Oh, please!)

In this scene, Adi's neighbors happen to pass by his house, and they say [selamat pagi] to Adi, and Adi just responds by saying [hmmm]. The neighbors and then mouthing [sombong banget], which means [very arrogant].

In Indonesia, when someone greetings you with [selamat pagi], you need to reply with [selamat pagi] and not with [hmm]. It is considered not polite in Indonesia if someone greetings you, and you don't reply to them, or if you just reply with [hmm], just like what Adi did. That is why Angel, Adi's wife complains about his bad behavior.

Vocabulary From the Scene

[Mas] is used to address someone that you meet on the street, just to be polite. For more about this, you can read my article here, Mas In Indonesian.

[Selamat pagi] is a greeting in the morning. For more about this, you can read my article here, How to Say Good Morning In Indonesian.

[Heh] is used to attract someone's attention.

[Kamu] = you. 

[Sih] falls in the category of phatic expression. You can read the detailed explanation here, Sih In Indonesian.

[Ramah] = friendly.

[Cape] = tired.

[Arisan] is a social gathering usually done by housewives, and they do it regularly at each member's house. What they are doing is usually rotating savings and credit associations and also mingling.

[Ibu-ibu] = mothers, housewives.

[Diomongin] = being talked about. The root word for [diomongin] is [omong], which means talk. Affix [di-in] turns the word into a passive voice [diomongin] = being talked about.

[Ngumpul] is informal for [berkumpul] = gathered. [Ngumpul] is usually used in conversational Indonesian.

[Ama] is a common reduction for [sama] = with.

[Jawab] = answer, reply.

[Gitu] = like that.

[Tau ah] is used as a response indicating a reluctance to discuss something, implying indifference, skepticism, or exasperation.

The second example is taken from a TV Serial, Mimpi Metropolitan (2018). Let's watch the clip below.

For the transcript and English translation, you can read my article titled Meaning of Nyolot In Bahasa Indonesia. I also gave further explanation there.

But, here, I added just a couple of seconds, so I'm going to just write the added conversation with English translation down below.

Melanie: Gue sendiri aja ngga tahu dengan perasaan gue sendiri, Bang, ke loe. Tapi yang gue tahu, gue kangen sama Bambang Soedarmo yang dulu. Yang selalu bikin sekitarnya itu bahagia. Bukan yang kaya gini. (I honestly don’t know how I feel about you, Bang. But, what I know is that I miss the old Bambang Soedarmo that I knew. The one who can always make his surroundings happy. Not the one like you right now.)

In this scene, Melanie feels that she is being abandoned by Bambang. That's why she says,

Selama ini loe udah nyuekin gue. [All this time you've been ignoring me.]

And Melanie doesn't like being ignored by Bambang. [Nyuekin] here is informal for [mencueki]. [Mencueki] comes from the root word [cuek], and then it is given an affix [me-i].

Vocabulary From the Scene

[Udah] is a common reduction for [sudah] = already.

[Gue] is informal for [saya] = I. For more about this, you can read my article here, Gue In Indonesian.

[Loe] is informal for [Anda] = you. For more about this, you can read my article here, Loe In Indonesian.

[Perasaan] = feeling.

[Kangen] = miss.

[Bahagia] = happy.

     Read also: Learn Indonesian With Comics 01

That's all for now. If I find another example from movies and whatnot, Insha Allah, I will update this article again. Thank you for reading my article, and I'll see you soon. Buh-bye now.